dougityb

one in a series of people breaking into blossom

Another in a series of people breaking into blossom

part of a series of people breaking into blossom

Thanks Jordan.

 

Scott, Thanks. I'm pretty happy with it, and I'm glad I made the attempt.  It sure beat sitting on my ass the whole month of April, which is what I would have done if I hadn't tried it. I'm also glad to have attempted something different, rather than trudging along the same path that countless other photographers have traveled.  Perhaps someone else will take this concept one step further and make it that much better.

one of a series of people breaking into blossom.

one of a series of people breaking into blossom

one of a series of people breaking into blossom

awesome responses. 

 

So....no one objects to her missing left hand?  I'm surprised. 

Thoughts?

Roger, I am, in turn, very grateful for your question.  Many times I'm not consciously aware of what I'm doing, shooting, or going for, or it's all a little hazy, and then someone poses a question in such a way, or makes a certain comment, and it all comes out.  Your question was sort of like that.  To be honest, this project caught me off guard, and I'm just thankful I was able to recognize it, and tailor it to fit my circumstances and capabilities.

I have to correct myself on my reply to Michael.  In some cases, the blossoms were not big enough, or were constructed in such a way that the subject's mouth, or lips, or teeth shown through. In those cases, I did fiddle with the image so the mouth and all it's parts were not visible, so as to make the mouth into the blossom. That's only happened to maybe 3 or 4 shots, and the manipulations were minor, covering just a corner of the mouth, or a small part of the lip, for instance.

 

A Blessing

by James Wright

Just off the highway to Rochester, Minnesota,
Twilight bounds softly forth on the grass.
And the eyes of those two Indian ponies
Darken with kindness.
They have come gladly out of the willows
To welcome my friend and me.
We step over the barbed wire into the pasture
Where they have been grazing all day, alone.
They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness
That we have come.
They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other.
There is no loneliness like theirs.
At home once more,
They begin munching the young tufts of spring in the darkness.
I would like to hold the slenderer one in my arms,
For she has walked over to me
And nuzzled my left hand.
She is black and white,
Her mane falls wild on her forehead,
And the light breeze moves me to caress her long ear
That is delicate as the skin over a girl’s wrist.
Suddenly I realize
That if I stepped out of my body I would break
Into blossom.

Roger, the title of this project is called Breaking into Blossom. This phrase comes from the poem A Blessing by the Pulitzer Prize winning poet, James Wright, which I'll include as a separate post.  The evolution of the series occurred like this.  I photographed one of the office assistants for my department.  Someone had recently received flowers and she and I thought they'd make a good picture.  Her roommate saw the photo and asked for one of her.  We met later that week and duplicated the shot. We then thought of how we could make the photo a little more creative.  I asked her to put one Gerbera Daisy in her mouth, thinking it would be as if her purity were such that her words would be as beautiful as flowers.  I made an enlargement of that shot and posted it in my office. People made all sorts of comments, some being negative, suggesting the model was being intentionally stifled with the flower, as if women should all shut up and just be pretty.  One of those who saw the original picture was reminded of the James Wright poem, which ends with these words:  "I suddenly realized/that if I stepped out of my body I would break/into blossom." His remembrance of that poem, coupled with my thoughts about speaking beauty, and my rejection of the misogynistic interpretations mentioned above, motivated me to make more photographs using different people, including men, to broaden everyone's understanding of my concept. So, what you are looking at are not flowers in people's mouths, but rather, people breaking into blossom because their experience, or life, or emotions, are so intense and beautiful. Tomorrow, April 30th, is my last day of shooting.  A month ago I advertised the project to over 400 people, but less than 40 responded, mostly women.  Many men, it seems, are uncomfortable being associated this intimately with flowers. At first, I went for the more or less blank expression that you see with Rachel, but found that working the models into poses of swooning, dreaming, and even being angry, or sad, for example, produced more interesting results.  

The photo above shows several images as they are posted in the lobby outside my office.

One of the ideas I realized a day or two ago really ties in with what you've written:  "these people must really love you to let you photograph them in such a ridiculous and uncomplimentary manner."   I think I realize the pictures combine an aspect of vulnerability that really resonates with me. Flowers, as we all know, are very brief, delicate expressions of nature.  They don't last long, they fade, they die.  As a result, we tend to value them as expressions of love, which is odd because they are so impermanent. I think rather it's because of their delicacy in conjunction with their beauty that we use them to "show how much we care."  They are tender and precious.  Using them as depictions of people (as manifestations of their souls), therefore, conveys that people, or the people depicted, are likewise tender and delicate, and utterly precious. 

As Michael pointed out, these pictures could have easily been created using stock shots of flowers and any regular portrait, but the fact that each person is holding a flower in their mouth is a vibrant expression of their vulnerability as human beings. We like to think we're so tough, that we are strong and powerful, but who is there that doesn't yearn to be loved?

Very recently, Rachel pointed me to this quote by Arundhati Roy:  "To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget."

Michael, other photographers will have to accept that it wasn't photoshopped because it wasn't, at least not in the sense you mean.  The only photoshopping was for burning, dodging,  dust spotting and blemish removal. 

Thoughts?

Would you have done anything different here?

Hey Mark, thanks for your many thoughts. The collar bothers me, too. I think I should have taped it up somehow, like with some stiff paper. It was a pretty shirt, though. I really liked it. The reflective thing on her right is the flower vase. I thought the contour of the vase, and that of her beautiful jaw were nice together, although they're not lined up so well in this shot as in others. I like how you see her as a girl next door. She's a very sweet human being. Not sure what you mean about cropping and balance because you say it's bottom heavy, and then you suggest adding more to the bottom for balance. At any rate, I'm glad you see that the focus was her exquisite face, which I find completely mesmerizing. Not sure about the catchlight in the iris, either. I'll have to check that out. I've always liked them in the pupil. The logo is on jpgs only, or promotional cards, never on quality finished prints.--Doug

 

 

Give this picture at least 5 or 10 seconds and then tell me what you

think. Thanks.

I have this picture hanging in my office and it's getting some really mixed results. Some of them in agreement with everything offered here.

Same picture as in Portrait Category, but this one is in Flowers category

I'm going to go ahead and complete the post processing on shot B, but I'm not really convinced (yet) that it's better. It may turn out to just be different, but equal.

Nabarun, I'm just finishing inspecting the other shots and I think there might be one that I like a little better for several reasons, one of which is an ever so softer arch in the eyebrows, although somehow her expression is a pinch more intense. What I had to think about, aside from her eyes, was the position of the flower, whether or not it was centered, loose strands of hair, the line of her blouse around her neck, the shoulder line, and the length of her neck. In the above capture, which I'll call shot A (A for Above), I've already corrected a slumped left collar and some stray hair. I think I did pretty well on the collar, although it might look more obvious now that I've called your attention to it, and the hair is good too. Shot B has a firmer collar, and in fact, might be the collar I used to correct the collar in shot A. I think shot A wins with regard to the appeal of her neck because her chin just forward slightly more than it does in shot B. With regard to her shoulders, in shot A her hands and arms are folded on a posing surface and are just below crop. This bunched the fabric of her blouse on the right (her left), which I also corrected. In shot B, her arms are at her side, which angles the slope of her shoulders (perhaps too much) as opposed to being nearly horizontal as they are in shot A. There's more hair mess to clean up in Shot B, too. I really don't like post processing hair.

Thanks to you, too, GungaJim.

 

Denis, thanks. the eyes are as sharp as anything else, so it must be just the jpeging process that's making them look blurry. Nabarun, I have others. I mean, I haven't fully edited through the shoot. This one jumped out at me, though, but mostly because of the eyes. I'll continue my deliberations with your comment in mind. Thanks.

Curiosity and a desire to improve compels me to post this in search of

comments and criticisms.